“Love” in Carol Ann Duffy’s ValentineMany people usually see “love” only one side especially when they deeply fall in love with someone. There are a lot of poems that respond the feeling of these falling in love people about how beautiful love is. It is true that love is beautiful. On the other hand, for me sometimes love is also painful. I really like the sentence that “love is color-blind” because this sentence can show not only the positive side of love but also the negative side of love. So does Carol Ann Duffy’s Valentine.

On Valentine’s day, many people will neatly prepare the present such as a red rose, a cute card, or something that extremely beautiful and worthwhile for their beloved couples but Carol Ann Duffy thinks that these presents are predictable. Carol Ann Duffy says that she will give an onion to whom she loves. Why onion? It is because an onion represents both sides of love. Love has many layers like an onion. You may waste your time for many people who are not the right one for you and will face many problems and barriers that you and your love have to fight for love before you will find “true love.” Along this way, sometimes you will be sad and cry many times like an onion when you peel it because an onion can make your tears. In contrast, you can say that the nature of an onion can refer to the levels of happiness that happiness has many levels itself. Sometimes it means comfort and memories but sometimes it means like a firework. In addition, Carol Ann Duff compares an onion to the moon too. Although the moon is wrapped in brown paper, it still has light. Like love, no matter what is going to happen, it is still light and beautiful. On the contrary, the moon is the sign of sorrow opposite of the sun. At first when you see the moon, you may consider that it is extremely beautiful but if you see it much closer, you will see it is rough. It is not so beautiful as you firstly see it from the far. It is like an onion because you will...

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...Consider the treatment of love in CarolAnnDuffy’s ‘Valentine’.
CarolAnnDuffy’s ‘Valentine’ ultimately depicts a highly cynical attitude towards love and conventional gestures of affection. The poem uses traditional images of valentine as a starting point, before showing how an onion is much more true to the nature oflove. An extended metaphor of the onion is then used to depict Duffy’s underlying implication that love can be destructive on many different levels.
One of the main ways in which Duffy conveys this message is through structural devices. The structural progression of the poem is very ordered and logical; firstly defying traditional images of love, and then developing the stanzas by offering statements to justify this contemptuous attitude. The basic structure of the poem however, is based on the actual presentation of the gift, written in personal first person. Firstly a description of the gift is given, “I give you an onion,” followed by the offering itself, “Here,” then the moment of the gift being exchanged, “Take it.” These succinct sentences or words provide a structured foundation on which the poem is based, accentuating the importance of the onion itself as a gift. Also, the enjambament in the lines to follow also adds to the effect of...

...﻿Commentary on "Valentine" by CarolAnn Duffy
CarolAnn Duffy talks of an unorthodox love in her poem “Valentine”, where she compares love to an onion. The narrator finds that gift givers portray love incorrectly when she mentions typical Valentine’s Day gifts. The poem is an extended metaphor of love being an onion, and she thinks oflove as a violent emotion rather than a peaceful one. The narrator compares love to an onion in her poem "Valentine" to show that her opinion of love is unconventional, violent, negative, enduring emotion through her use of extended metaphors and diction.
The narrator portrays that love resembles an onion through her use of metaphors which creates the feeling of love being an enduring, violent and depressing emotion. She begins the poem by saying that an onion is “a moon wrapped in brown paper” (Duffy 3). This metaphor compares the onion and the moon on both a physical and figurative state. The onion is visually similar to the moon and the brown paper is similar to the onion’s skin. The brown paper is not very appealing but the moon is beautiful, and these two objects contrast with each other to show that love should not be judged at first sight. The narrator then says, “It promises light” (Duffy 4)...

...Valentine' and Stealing', By Carol-Ann Duffy
FOR IDEAS ONLY, DO NOT COPY
In Valentine' and Stealing', Carol-Ann Duffy uses an extended metaphor which helps the reader relate to what the poet is trying to get across, and to understand what the feelings are of the narrator.
Both poems also focus on the thoughts and emotions of the speaker', both are structured as conversational pieces, meaning you could just use it to talk to someone, and could imagine the reactions of the person they're talking to. Duffy also never reveals the sex or identity of either person.
In Valentine' she uses an onion to explain love, going from the idea that it's really romantic, to how it's lethal.
"It's a moon wrapped in brown paper" for an example. Duffy was using a moon because it's nearly always associated with romance in films and movies.
The "brown paper" is the skin of the onion, meaning that she's being careful to mention all of the aspects of the onion, and the fact that it's a gift, because, traditionally, you wrap gifts up.
In Stealing', Duffy uses a snowman to describe the thief's emotions, relating to how they are both cold inside.
"A mate/with a mind as cold as the slice of ice/within my own brain."
The thief thinks that the snowman suits them, because the snowman reflects what he thinks about himself. It means that the thief feels numb an cold inside,...

...“Valentine” is a controversial love poem written by CarolAnn Duffy. Throughout the poem the poetess compares love to an onion and she does that by using a variety of techniques such as imagery, symbolism, word choice and structure. All these techniques justify why “Valentine” is an unusual love-poem as they help the poet express her different point of view. Overall, the poem is unusual as its title mistakenly leads the reader into thinking that the poem will be typical. I felt deeply moved by the poet’s ability to arise thoughtfulness and reflexion in the reader. ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| CarolAnn Duffy gives a controversial outlook on love and from the very start, it is made clear that the poem is centred around its main key symbol : an onion. The poet makes some other key suggestions on how love makes one feel. CarolAnn Duffy conveys that love is not simple nor always pleasant. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||\ Throughout the poem, the poetess is comparing love to an onion. Onions provoke tears while love is meant to bring happiness and joy. Therefore, the main symbol makes this love-poem an unusual one: “ It will blind you with tears Like a lover “ Onions have a...

...Carol Anne Duffy's presentation of love and relationships.
Love and relationships are themes that are consistently found throughout Carol Anne Duffy's work. It is something that she seems to present with mixed messages. This can be seen with the contrasts between the poems "Lovesick" and also "correspondents."
In the poem correspondents the love theme seems to be forbidden and secretive.
This is shown When Duffy writes, "When you come on Thursday, bring me a letter. "
A letter is something that to me seems very secretive, I think this is what Duffy uses to make it, relationships in this poem seem very secretive.
In the poem Lovesick the poem seems much happier and upbeat, the poem seems to be about someone who wants their love to be known. In the opening line Duffy writes
"I found an apple" I believe that the apple is representative of a ripening love; the fact that the apple has been found could be representative of a love that has been found. Despite the fact that in the opening line makes the person speaking seem like they want to tell people about their love this may not actually be the case as they are using symbolism to perhaps hide their love and make it more secretive.
Relationships are made to seem exciting also by Carol Anne Duffy she writes
"with a thin spoon, my hand...

...‘Valentine’ by CarolAnn Duffy and ‘Our Love Now’ by Martyn Lowery. These two poems were my first choice as they both link to the theme of love, yet they are significantly different as they show how their ideas of love differ. ‘Valentine’ has the idea that love is original and true rather than hiding behind false pretences i.e. ‘a red rose’ or ‘a satin heart’ (Duffy 1993). Whereas ‘Our Love Now’ has two different perspectives, the males idea is that although the relationship is broken it can be fixed because their love is strong enough yet the females view is that something drastic has happened and that whatever it was, was too severe to fix their relationship.
The structure of ‘Our Love Now’ is on the page the way it is because it is showing the reader how badly this woman’s been hurt and how they’re breaking-up, yet the man doesn’t want it. There is no clear rhythm or rhyme as it is designed to give the reader an idea of a strained and painful relationship. In ‘Our Love Now’ the form on the page is very neat as it is 6 lines per stanza until the final stanza on either side, which is 7 lines. This poem in itself however, is quite irregular as it can either be read across or downwards, this creates the impression of a discussion if read across. If the poem is read downwards then this reinforces the...

...﻿How does CarolAnn Duffy use language and imagery to explore love.
Throughout the poem ‘Valentine’ love is explored in different ways for example in the first stanza ‘careful undressing of love’ has various meanings, one being the comparison of the onion which is supposed to mirror her heart, the core of her love; to get to her heart you have to take time to remove each layer of emotion in contrast to an onion where to get to the core you have to remove the layers of skin. You must be careful with love to get reap its benefits, just as you would be careful when cutting an onion. The second meaning is that the ‘undressing’ could be in the sexual way as having sex is a form of showing love and emotion. She has used personification of the onion, could be in reference to the human feature of taking off your clothes in to add some imagery for the reader.
Throughout the poem Duffy uses subtle sentences that have double entendres which also indicates what happens in a relationship and what occurs when dealing with onions, ‘blind you with tears’ in a relationship tears with be shed whether for joy or sadness in contrast to an onion which makes you cry because of a chemical reaction. Another of Duffy’s double entendres ‘its fierce kiss will stay on your lips, possessive and faithful’, when you eat an onion raw the stench and aroma with...

...ValentineValentine
By CarolAnn Duffy
By CarolAnn Duffy
Valentine is a love poem written by CarolAnn Duffy. Throughout the poem she compares love to an onion. She does this by using different techniques such as imagery , word structure and of course by using poetic devices. All these techniques help her make this poem so special and unusual, and it helps her to describe her own points of view about love.
‘Not a red rose or a satin heart.’ Is the first line of the poem. The poet creates a contradiction by contrasting the romantic poem style of the title with a negative in the opening line. We think that she wants to tell her own Valentine not to expect anything romantic . Then she goes on by offering something very surprising, something which you wouldn’t expect; an onion. In the following lines she sets out why she thinks an onion is a good gift.
‘It is a moon wrapped in brown paper. It promises light like the careful undressing of love.’
The ‘brown’ paper is the outer skin of the onion; the comparison also supports the idea of a gift. The reference to the ‘moon’ is common in romantic poetry, it ‘promises light’ like the moon and perhaps, like the optimism at the beginning of a new relationship. She also tries to warn people that they don’t need to trust...